By Michael Aron
Chief Political Correspondent
Elizabeth Connolly, the new acting commissioner, a 24-year veteran of the Department of Human Services got put through her paces today.
The first issue was CASS, a long-delayed computer system that was supposed to ease paperwork but has never itself worked.
“Can we get some understanding from you in terms of when there will be a system in place?” asked Assemblyman Gary Schaer.
“It’s not the best answer, but the true answer is we really have to wait to see,” Connolly said.
CASS was conceived in 2007.
Hewlett Packard won the $118 million contract to build it.
Eight years and $58 million later, the state has hired KPMG to study what went wrong and the Xerox Corporation to process applications for Medicaid and food stamps.
“The whole system has gotta be replaced, restarted and the hundreds of thousands of people who depend upon the system are out of luck,” Schaer said.
New Jersey’s food stamp application backlog is second worst in the nation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has threatened to withhold federal funding.
“I don’t think anyone’s looking to put blame anywhere per se, but the bottom line is that for the past six years this program has been under the tutelage of Gov. Christie and his administration,” Schear said.
The computer failure has also backlogged applications for Medicaid.
“We are very concerned about the backlog because we want people to have their Medicaid timely,” Connolly said.
Another problem is the number of doctors who won’t accept Medicaid.
“I don’t have to tell you the numbers. You know New Jersey is woeful with respect to physician participation in the Medicaid program. The CDC in 2013: our numbers were 38.7 percent of physicians said they accepted new Medicaid while the national average is 69 percent,” said Assemblyman Troy Singleton.
Four hundred thousand new people have signed up for Medicaid in New Jersey under the Affordable Care Act, complicating the access issue.
There were also questions about Return Home New Jersey, the program that requires developmentally disabled people in out-of-state placements to return home to this state.
“People were placed out of state as part of their educational need. And as people age, we aren’t sure if their educational placement is actually still appropriate,” Connolly said.
The Department of Human Services is the largest in state government with over 12,ooo employees. No one here underestimates the complexity of the problems the new acting commissioner faces.